Grabbing his guitar from its stand, Zach Manning sits on his bed and strums his hand across the strings. When he notices what should be a sweet sound is dissonant, his face turns a little sour. But with a twist of the peg, he takes his hands across the strings one last time to reveal the perfectly tuned guitar and a sweet smile stretches across his face.
Zach starts by playing some scales to warm up his fingers. He starts off slowly, but swiftly increases his speed with his eyes partially shut. His focus on the guitar is intense, but his playing is effortless. The guitar is like an extension of his body.
Music has been a part of Zach’s entire life. He grew up in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania with his mother, father, and two younger brothers. Zach described how he has always been a part of his school district’s music department and theatrical performances, as well as performed in talent shows, birthday parties, graduation parties, coffee shops, and open mic nights. “This helped me grow as a musician and encouraged me to continue pursuing music,” Zach said.
At 22 years old, Zach is currently a student at Bloomsburg University studying to be in the Corporate Communications Field. Although he is graduating in May, he is making the most out of the rest of his college experience by attending public relations conferences and performing in voice recitals, as well as continuing with other activities he loves.
People can be inspired to go into music in a ton of different ways. For Zach, his biggest influence was his grandfather, who is still a musician at 80. “At the age of seven, I asked that he write down guitar chords so I could practice. I quickly caught on and improved very quickly,” Zach said. “By the age of 12, I had my first nice guitar of my own. I started playing guitar when I was seven, drums when I was 11, and have been playing piano for the past few years.”
To Zach, music is a universal language, because it’s shared by every culture. That’s why he has made it his mission to inspire people through his performances. Not only has music been a way to relieve stress and meet new people, but also as a way to bring people joy.
The happiness that is brought to the audience is through all the hard work of the musician. All performers go through different processes before going in front of an audience. “I typically try to play a few scales to warm up my fingers, as well as do a series of vocal warm-ups and maybe a run-through of a song or two,” Zach said.
Preparation is key. Although these methods may be different for each individual, they are extremely important. Sometimes rehearsing for performances can take upwards to an hour. Zach described that for many of his gigs, where he can perform up to fifteen songs, he spends a lot of time practicing so he can be one hundred percent comfortable. However, there are times when he only needs to run through a song a couple of times to feel confident.
Music is something that affects everyone. It’s a part of everyone’s life, and that’s why Zach has such a great connection to music. “My mission with my music is to ‘wow’ people and inspire them to become musicians themselves,” Zach said. “When I play at a public venue, I try to perform a wide variety of genres, so it is appealing and enjoyable for all audiences.”
Recently, Zach had his Senior Voice Recital, where he sang “She Used to Be Mine” from the hit musical Waitress (2015). He described it as “a very nostalgic experience,” as it was his last recital. This put more pressure on him because he wanted to make sure it was his best performance.
But the pressure did not stop there. The day before his performance, his throat was extremely tight and he was worried that he would not be able to perform for his recital.
“Rest is so important as a vocalist. I felt great the day of, so I wasn’t worried. I bet it was springtime allergies, so I had to make sure I drank a lot of water and got a lot of rest so I actually had a voice,” Zach explained.
Before a show, there is a whole range of emotions that musicians go through from anxiety to excitement. However, with each new performance, more comfort is gained. “Initially, the most difficult part is getting over the fear of being the center of attention and being in front of people,” Zach said. “Now the most difficult part is sound checking and finding a perfect balance between instrumentals and vocal levels. Sometimes I also have a difficult time remembering words to songs that I am not as comfortable with.”
One of the difficulties that performers can go through is the limited song choices that they have. Zach explained that “Sometimes I get frustrated when I enjoy a song, but cannot find a good key to cover it in.”
His entire family is extremely supportive of him. From the very beginning when his grandfather taught him how to play guitar to each performance he has, his family is there to give him constructive criticism. His youngest brother is also starting to perform in a band, and although Zach does not know if he directly influenced him, he definitely thinks he helped.
The most important piece of advice Zach can give is this: “You can always improve as a musician, just as you can with anything else. There will always be someone who is better, which personally makes me strive to be even better.” Zach continued, “Do not ever give up. You can only play sports so long before you are not physically capable. You can only work for so long before you retire, but you can always play music.”
